


love's pure light

by seaofolives



Category: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Aerith Gainsborough Lives, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-20
Updated: 2020-01-20
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:41:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22332829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seaofolives/pseuds/seaofolives
Summary: it's date night with aerith, and it's only their second official date together. by cloud's definition, that means nothing special is going to happen.
Relationships: Aerith Gainsborough/Cloud Strife, Tifa Lockhart & Cloud Strife
Comments: 8
Kudos: 45





	love's pure light

**Author's Note:**

> written mostly bc i miss tokyo so bad and partly bc this is an au i've been pondering for months now and this is me testing the waters to see if it works. also i know this is very late for the season but i wrote it during the season. that should count.

“Oh…Cloud? Are you going out tonight?”

He looked up to his visitor by the door, shrouded almost in her silhouette with the strong hallway light switched on and his own bedroom light turned off. Heʼd been about to leave, see, until he decided to change his boots so he went back up from the stairwell. And that was how Tifa caught him, sat at the edge of his single bed, hunched over while he was pulling up the zipper at the side of his shoes. 

Without a word, he nodded. Tifa, in turn, sighed deeply, embracing her tummy and crossing her heel at the back of the other, looking sadly at the floor. 

“Okay,” she said, not looking up. “Well, have fun.” This wasnʼt like her, at all. 

Cloudʼs brows furrowed as he frowned, concerned. “Tifa, what is it?”

She sighed again, heavily, keeping her eyes turned away from Cloud even as she chewed her lip. Eventually, she revealed, “Itʼs just that…you said youʼd help me out tonight…” He said that? 

Come to think of it, Cloud remembered making that promise just the last weekend. His heart jumped and his face froze. He tried not to panic as he thought back to that day; it was over lunch when she asked for his help to clean up the bar, just to get the slow and arduous process started before the new year came in. And he agreed and they decided that the best time to do it was… 

He turned to the wall calendar posted over his work desk, scribbled with all sorts of notes and schedules. “I thought that was—”

“Tomorrow?” Tifa snorted suddenly and started to cackle. “Yeah, it was totally tomorrow.”

When he turned back to her she was already containing her glee behind one hand, the other arm still around her tummy. Sheʼd tricked him, of course. Cloud sighed, pretending as if he wasnʼt trying to pace his breathing. 

“Sorry!” she laughed. “You spent the whole day getting ready for this date, I just had to try! Did I scare you?”

“You didnʼt.” Technically, he wouldnʼt call it being scared, anyway. Cloud got up, then, picking up the down coat next to him. 

“Mhm.” Tifa nodded, still pretending she was trying to hide her smile as Cloud passed her. “Iʼm sure. Hey, youʼre bringing your coat!” She hurried after him, through the short corridor and down the narrow flight of steps leading to the small bar at the first floor of their shared apartment. “Good for you, you remembered. Just one other thing.”

Sheʼd overtaken him to the door when heʼd stepped behind the counter to take one of the keys hanging by the wall near the kitchen. Cloud stopped before he bumped into her just as she pulled two square foils from the back of her skirt and raised them to his eyes. They were black, each with the obvious ring shape of their hidden contents. Not what he expected to be stopped for. 

Cloud eyed Tifa for her ideas before he tried to overstep her. “Donʼt be ridiculous.”

Tifa rolled her eyes. “Says the guy whoʼs going out on a date while itʼs 8-degrees out.” She was faster, of course, and had easily regained her spot in front of him, insisting on the condoms she carried. “Trust me,” she persisted. 

Cloud sighed, looking mildly irritated at her bullheadedness. “Tifa, weʼre going to a church service.” Even when he knew this was just Tifa being Tifa, being his overly concerned friend who also enjoyed a good tease now and again.

“Thatʼs what Hozier said. Look,” she began, shifting her weight between her feet to stand more comfortably. “Obviously, youʼre not just going home after church. Youʼre going to have dinner together in some fancy Italian place, then maybe get some coffee and maybe find another place after the shop closes because you still want to spend more time together and itʼs still too early to go home and itʼs cold outside, as the song goes.” A hypothesis which she concluded by waving the condoms at his face, again. 

Cloud snorted quietly. “Knowing her mom? We wonʼt even make it past dinner.”

“When has her mom ever stopped her, Cloud?” Tifa rolled her eyes. “I canʼt believe I know this more than you. Look, if youʼre not going to take these, Iʼm just gonna put them somewhere she might find by accident!”

“Hey, donʼt do that!!” If that wasnʼt a serious threat to his life, Cloud didnʼt know what was. But she moved like a viper, slapping his hand away from his left pocket and taking hold of it. If he hadnʼt been equally skilled in his own way, he wouldnʼt have caught those foils in time before she jammed them inside. “All right, fine, Iʼll take ‘em!!” He couldnʼt believe it but his face and ears felt warm. 

Tifa stood back, then, to watch him stuff the condoms in his pocket himself. He never liked bringing too many things so whatever he needed always went in one of those. When she faced him with a smile, she looked proud. Certainly mostly of herself than of her friend. 

“I wonʼt stay up if youʼll be late,” she assured him suddenly. Cloud only shook his head as he finally managed to step past her, marching for the door. “Call me if you need anything!” 

Cloud raised his hand to wave, stepping out the door. 

“And tell Aerith I said hi!”

—

Normally, it only took him 20 minutes to ride from his address in Sumida to her place in Bunkyo but with the weekend traffic and the Christmas sales coming up to full swing, he had to ask her to wait another 10 minutes while he sat on his motorcycle, waiting for the traffic lights to go green.

 _I told you you should have just taken the train,_ her text back read, following a laughing sticker. He didnʼt reply. 

Before he left his motorcycle in the corner parking lot near her house, he made sure he stowed away the condoms to the pocket near his right knee. Heʼd thought about disposing them in the bin but ultimately, he had to admit that Tifa had a point. He couldnʼt imagine how he and Aerith could end up in that direction tonight (and this was just their second official date) but he had heard of others who did it the first date and, Aerith had a streak of unpredictability to her. Also he felt bad about binning his friendʼs good intentions. 

So he carried it with him as he made it to one of the bigger houses in the neighborhood, loosening up his muffler now that he wasnʼt riding against the brisk wind. Heʼd just run his gloved hands through the spiked layers of his hair when the door had opened. 

And he came face to face with Elmyra. Aerithʼs mother. 

It was a very good way of making him feel conscious of his mass, of the space he occupied in front of her doorstep. “Uh,” he began dumbly, running his hands down the end of his knitted sweatshirt to his jeans, as if his palms were perspiring in the frigid winter air. “Good evening,” he went on respectfully. “I came to pick up Aerith.”

For all the nerves that she stirred in him, she had, at least, a warm smile spared for him. “I know,” she said, nodding. “Sheʼs just finishing up. Why donʼt you come inside for a minute? Iʼll make you some tea while you wait.” Tea would be glorious right about now. 

Also, there was no way Cloud could have refused, not while he was still in the process of getting into her good graces. So like a good boy, the proper suitor he was expected to be, he bowed and muttered, “Excuse me for disturbing you,” as he stepped through her door. 

And really, everything about the house was like a history lesson of all the manners his mother taught him back when he still lived in Kiso Town in Nagano Prefecture. It wasnʼt a large house, not even by Tokyoʼs congested standards, but it had a genkan where he could remove his boots, and even a toko that carried a simple flower arrangement in a flat dish. The kitchen and the stairwell were hidden behind shoji screens from the view of the dining area where he sat to wait. Except for the colors and the wood planks that remained traditional, everything else was built in the Western way. 

He and Tifa, when they were still kids, lived in traditional houses right next to each other. But since theyʼd moved out, each in their own separate paths which joined again only recently, theyʼd been residing in apartments and dorms, sometimes so small, they couldnʼt even enjoy the luxury of a window or a private bathroom. But they made do with this one they had—they had a shoe cabinet out in the corridor and a narrow alcove with a painting of mountains at one end of it. They couldnʼt, after all, forget the ways in which they were raised just because theyʼd moved up and moved away. 

When Elmyra served him his tea, Cloud dipped his head to bow slightly. That, too, he didnʼt forget from his childhood. 

“Iʼm sorry but I hope you donʼt mind waiting a little longer,” his hostess said, taking her place next to him in the round table with the lacy table cloth. “Aerith normally doesnʼt take this long to get ready.”

“Itʼs fine,” Cloud assured her, putting down his tea cup. “I was stuck in traffic, too. Iʼm sorry for being late.” You were supposed to be sorry back when older people were sorry to you, right? 

Cloud thought the answer was _yes_ , seeing as Elmyra had smiled. She looked down, then, on his scarf and the pair of gloves next to his tea. “Aerith tells me you ride a motorcycle. Is that what you took going here?”

He nodded. Well, if this was an interview, he ought to show his cooperation. 

He almost cleared his throat. “Itʼs what I use for work, too,” he went on. “I run a small delivery service.” And then stopped short just as soon when he realized he didnʼt know how much Aerith had told her about what he did so this might already be information that she already knew. “Just door-to-door stuff,” he went on, anyway, just to finish. Well, it was already too late to stop the words from coming out. 

Elmyra nodded, again. So maybe she already knew all of that, all right. “Isnʼt it dangerous?” she asked. 

Cloud was stumped. He didnʼt know how to answer that question. He supposed his line of work could get a bit dangerous if one were thinking about road accidents, communicating with strangers of unknown backgrounds and getting lost in unfamiliar locales without a trustee companion. Heʼd thought about them before, when he was still putting the whole thing together, but as with many things, everything was perfectly ordinary. Was that a good answer to give? Besides, a guy with his kind of skillset… 

Well. That probably wasnʼt a good thing to tell the mother of the girl you were dating. Then again, maybe Aerith had told her about that part of him, too. 

Cloud shook his head. “Itʼs fine as long as I keep an eye on my surroundings and mind myself.” Those were always the first points of safety, anyway. 

To which Aerithʼs mother agreed again, nodding. “Thatʼs good to hear. After all, you never know when the driver in the car next to you might be busy texting. Or they could be drunk.” Oh. She meant riding the motorcycle. 

Cloud nodded, anyway. He thought of something he could say without having to repeat himself but didnʼt know what, so he just drank his tea. Maybe he ought to compliment Elmyraʼs choice of tea. 

The shutting of the door caught him before he could overextend himself. And then a sweet, “Hi, Cloud!” ringing from the top of the stairwell distracted the rest of his thoughts, even before she could appear from behind the shoji screen. 

He got up just in time to see her sweeping into the dining area, in a flowy pink dress and a red knit sweater that…didnʼt really look warm enough. In one hand, she carried a thick white scarf while in the other, there was a small gift bag, in plain brown, made, he was sure, from recyclable materials. 

Elmyra rose after him as her daughter approached, waving to their visitor. “Aerith, are you sure youʼre wearing that out tonight? That sweater isnʼt nearly warm enough…” Well, thatʼs what he said. 

“Iʼll be fine, Mom,” Aerith insisted. Well, that was what _she_ said. Though Cloud suspected that the presence of his down coat on her table had something to do with that. “Besides,” she went on, waltzing into Cloudʼs side to take his arm as she so often did, even before they started dating, “Iʼm sure Cloud wouldnʼt let me get cold!” Which was exactly what he said. 

To which Elmyra could only sigh, that soft weight of a frown on her lips evident on the wrinkles they drew along the corners despite her polite features. “Well, youʼre already dressed to go,” she conceded, with the weary voice of a mother, who was forced to put her anxieties aside and her trust on her daughterʼs good senses. It wasnʼt just the weather, of course, which could easily be solved by his coat or a quick trip to Starbucks or St.Marc Cafe if she needed to get something hot down. 

Even as he picked up his scarf, his gloves and his coat, he could see how Elmyraʼs eyes flitted from her carefree daughter in such warm hues to him, dressed heavily all in black, although his jeans were a little too overloved to still be in the same shade. His mind went back to their interrupted conversation, about how dangerous it was to ride a motorcycle. Was she thinking also of how dangerous he could be for her daughter? Like any mother, of course, she wanted to protect her down to the last hair on her skin. Then again, she knew she couldnʼt keep Aerith sheltered for life… 

Elmyra sighed, “Donʼt be out too late.” She was really trying her best not to set a curfew.

—

It was only after he and Aerith had stepped out of her house that he realized, as he was wrapping his scarf around him again, that sheʼd left hers on the dining table. But when heʼd stopped them both and started to go back for it, she only caught his elbow with her hands and shook her head.

“Itʼs fine,” Aerith said, nudging him back on their direction. “I wonʼt need it.”

“You sure?”

“Mhm,” Aerith nodded, looping her free arm around Cloudʼs so she could lean her head on his side. 

“Itʼs cold out tonight.”

“I know.” That was that, then. 

He didnʼt push the issue. Besides, he didnʼt have the heart to make her move away from his side, when she felt so warm and soft pressed up to him like that. 

The moment ended too soon; someone had turned the corner just as they neared it and Aerith peeled herself judiciously from his arm before they could be talked about. 

He and Aerith bowed to her neighbor who passed in a hurry. Aerith snuck him a furtive smile, and then hurried forward to turn around and face him, as if with urgent news, her long plaits whipping with the motion. “I almost forgot,” she said, handing him the gift bag as she walked on backwards, unconcerned for any accidents. “This is for you. Itʼs your Christmas present.”

“You got me a gift?” Cloud took it from her and started to investigate for an opening. “But I didnʼt get you anything.” He actually hadn’t gotten to thinking about that yet. He probably should use this opportunity to investigate what he could give her.

“I wanted to get you something, though,” Aerith chirruped. “Wait!” she cried suddenly when Cloud had managed to pop one of the staplers, catching his hands with her own before he did any more damage. “Donʼt open it until Christmas!”

“But you already gave it to me,” Cloud protested. Not that he really believed in Christmas and the spirit of giving that it came with (well, he did when he got a really good discount on his purchases), but it was fun to tease Aerith. When he inched the gift bag back to himself, she pulled back with double the force and the urgency. Her hands were warm where their fingers met.

“Still!” she insisted with a soft pout. Cloud couldnʼt help but think how cute she looked. “Donʼt ruin the surprise.” Not that heʼd been about to. 

For one, heʼd never really been the teasing kind, which he supposed was why heʼd never really been in a serious date before, no one liked a boring guy. And for another, heʼd already had his suspicions set—until heʼd met Aerith, heʼd never owned a portable set of chopsticks or even a foldable shopping bag and when Aerith had found that out, she set about doing something about the situation. So if this wasnʼt some reusable straws or utensils, it was probably a collapsible bottle or cup. 

The perks of dating an eco warrior, though it made it difficult for him to impress her with his motorcycle because she was such a champion for things that were clean, renewable and sustainable. Like commuting and walking and pedaling bikes. He was just glad she wasnʼt so politically inclined like his and Tifaʼs other friend who always joked (at least they hoped he was just joking) about bombing corporations for destroying the environment. 

Though she did still give him the occasional stinky eye because he still hadnʼt mended his ways. Sheʼd caught the nose of his motorcycle peeking from the corner of the parking lot and he felt like heʼd already committed a crime. 

“I should give you a bicycle next time,” Aerith sighed, shaking her head, a little smile dancing on her face as they walked on, side-by-side. 

“I got one, though,” Cloud said, glancing at her. “It was the bike I started my business on.”

“Really!” Aerith whirled to him, eyes sparkling. “So why donʼt you use it anymore?”

“You get so much more things done with a faster ride.” Cloud shrugged. 

Aerith rolled her eyes. “Always all about making money, of course,” she groaned. Theyʼve had this conversation before. Cloud still didnʼt see what was so wrong about it. 

“Well, itʼs not just that,” he went on, anyway. “I always dreamed of one, too,” he shared. “Growing up in Kiso Town, Mom and I didnʼt have a lot although we had enough for ourselves. And then Tifa, when we were still neighbors, she had a visitor from Tokyo who came by every year and rode around on his motorcycle. I thought it was the coolest thing and that if I had it, Tifa would be impressed with me and people would start taking me seriously.”

“How old _were_ you when you started having these thoughts?” Aerith eyed him suspiciously. 

Cloud counted briefly in his head. 

He dipped it after and scratched a little at his nape in an act of embarrassment. “Probably just six,” he revealed. Aerith started to laugh, which was just what he thought would happen. 

“Awww, Silly Cloud!!” Aerith teased. Another man, a proper admirer maybe, might have felt a bit more conscious about being made fun of by the person he was pursuing, and for a minute there, Cloud wondered if he ought to take offense just to show he had some kind of dignity or whatever. 

He found it impossible, though. What was wrong if she agreed with him and laughed at his expense? He _was_ rather silly, very childish when he was, well, a kid. And there was nothing he could have done to silence that tinkling laughter, to smother the blush on her cheeks, the delight she felt. 

And when she said, “Well, dreams do come true, donʼt they?” as she gazed up to him, green eyes sparkling, a warm smile on her face, who wouldnʼt want to hear such words about them? 

Cloud nodded. “Yeah,” he said. Heʼd been about to ask her back about her own little childhood dreams only to be interrupted, quite literally, by the bell. 

“Oh!” Aerith started, eyes on the small church up ahead, ablaze with Christmas lights strung around it. “The mass!” It was about to begin.

“Cʼmon!” Cloud didnʼt think there was a need to rush—there were other attendees who were just as late as they were and they werenʼt hurrying in themselves. But he didnʼt pull back when Aerith grabbed for his hand, his own fingers curling instinctively around hers as she pulled him towards the open doors, racing the others. 

He supposed, for someone who knew what went on in a church service, there were some perks to coming in on time such as catching the whole damn thing as if it were some high school class. For someone like him whoʼd never followed the Christian doctrine, though, he was good enough only to follow the expertʼs lead. They kept their hands linked as Aerith briefly scanned the half-filled congregation and chose a seat at the backmost pew at the left side of the chapel, Cloud in tow. 

Cloud took his place next to her, just at the end, near the aisle. “Do you want to go closer?” he asked her. There were still about five vacant pews between them and the nearest person. 

Aerith shook her head. “I always sit at the back. This way, if we have to go, we can just sneak out without disturbing anyone,” she whispered. All that time, Cloud couldnʼt help but notice that their fingers were still together… 

The mass began shortly after, the devotees rising to welcome the choir singing _Silent Night_ and the priest and his team of assistants, whatever they were called. He and Aerith, though, remained in their seats, Aerith simply smiling softly towards the altar, enjoying the music and the atmosphere, it seemed. For his part, he looked around. There was little else for him to do, besides. The walls were clean and white, with each stained glass window along the sides lined by a stout tray of flowers along their feet. The same decorations could be seen in the altar, as well, only bigger and with more ribbons. 

“Did you know?” Aerith whispered suddenly as soon as the service had opened properly and someone had come up to the podium to read something from a folder. “I almost became a member of the choir when I was a kid.”

“Really?” Cloud muttered back, hardly listening in the first place. Their hands had barely budged since they arrived, either. And when he loosened his muffler because it was toasty inside, he had to use his left one, his free one. “What stopped you?”

Aerith tilted her head slightly, as if in thought. “You know, I like going to this place a lot, but it isnʼt because Momʼs a Christian or I am one,” she began. “When I was little, there used to be a small garden here, at the side of the church. But there was a change of management, I think, and they decided to replace it with a playground. I guess, so that the kids wonʼt get bored and bother the adults during mass.” She turned to Cloud. 

“They did that the summer Mom suggested I join the choir. I stopped going for a while, after. I just thought…” she shrugged, “…something about the airʼs changed and I didnʼt want it anymore. I guess that decision stuck with me long enough until I opened the flower shop.”

“So what brought you back?”

“The loan sharks started coming,” Aerith said. “Youʼve met them. At first, Mom would just tell me to come here and not to leave until she comes to pick me up. When I realized what was going on, I thought…maybe she keeps sending me here so that I could pray to the man in the cross and ask for help. So I started doing that. Until it became a habit to just come here and then I realized, I still like it here.” She smiled lightly. “Even when the flowers were gone, it was still very peaceful here. When there isnʼt any service going on, itʼs nice and quiet here. And the choir sounds nice and itʼs warm inside and cool during the summer.” 

“But the flowers are back.”

Aerith nodded, then with some pride from her smile, she whispered closely to Cloud, “I offered to put them back. One of the staff still remembers me when I was a child so she let me. I change them every week.” These were flowers from her own shop. 

Cloud popped his brow. “You’re rather enterprising yourself.” Took one to know one. 

Aerith giggled. “But at least I didnʼt just do it for the money,” she reasoned, taking another jab at him. “I really wanted to bring the flowers back.”

“So you thought you might as well make a little extra while youʼre at it.”

Aerith rolled her eyes. “If thatʼs what you say. Now be quiet,” she laid her other hand on the inner of his closest elbow and rested her head on his shoulder. As though they’d known each other since they were children but he knew this was just Aerith being Aerith, with her unabashed honesty and how she carried it so easily, like air about her. “The choir is singing,” she reminded him.

This was how they spent the rest of the service, then—in silence, listening to soft soaring voices which Cloud decided were indeed beautiful, assuming he had any form of musicality in his bones somewhere, or to the drunk impassioned sermon from the red-nosed priest. He might have been about to make some joke about it, only there they were, again—Aerith’s comfortable weight on his side, the warmth between their fingers touching.

He’d save it for later then, he thought. And then he lost it somewhere under the layers of all his other thoughts. About the church, the flowers, that hypothetical image of a young Aerith in his head, her flower shop, the first time they’d met when she’d hired his services to deliver a huge order from her supplier to her shop.

And now there she was, on his shoulder, eyes closed as she smiled softly. Completely at peace by his side.

—

He couldn’t remember what else had happened for the rest of the mass.

By the time he’d thought about it, he and Aerith had already stepped out of the church, back into the frigid weather of Tokyo on a winter’s night. The scarf was back around Cloud’s neck and mouth. 

As for Aerith, after briefly rubbing her fingers together, she spun around, and smiled at Cloud as she marched back, leading him away from the rest of the thin crowd.

“So?” Cloud asked, stuffing his hands inside his pockets, his thick coat slung uselessly between his arm and his side. “What next?” He supposed it was time for that fancy Italian dinner—

“Bubble tea!”

“In this cold?” Didn’t he just see her rubbing her hands just now? He looked at the time on his phone. “And you’re going to spoil your dinner.”

“Or, we could go to the Chatime in Shin-Okubo and then have dinner in the Korean barbecue restaurant next door.” Well, she’s had this all planned out, hadn’t she? 

Still didn’t stop Cloud from shaking his head. “We’ll come out smelling like smoked meat and it’ll probably be full by the time we get there.” 

“So we better go now before it’s too late!” Then again, when had Aerith ever allowed herself to be talked out of an idea?

They took the Oedo Line to Higashi-Shinjuku Station and walked to the corner Chatime where Aerith left Cloud in a queue full of women with her order (Large Iced Roasted Green Milk Tea with extra QQ Jelly and 100% sweetness level) while she went and held them a table next door. 

When Cloud had found, she was on her phone, both thumbs flying across her keyboard. _Mom_ read the name at the top, something he caught as he passed her from the back, setting down their drinks next to her as he took his place in front of her. Sheʼd found them a white table next to the wall, with the circular grill in the middle

She slipped her phone back in her purse while Cloud was shedding his scarf again. “I ordered their Samgyeopsal Course for us. Do you want to look at the menu?”

“Itʼs fine,” Cloud said, shaking his head. It wasn’t so much that he didn’t have an opinion, though. It was more like...he didn’t have an opinion because he was a carnivore who wasn’t very picky with his meat. As long as it wasn’t spoiled, or bland or served in a different temperature than it was meant for, he would probably gobble it all up like a growing boy.

“It’s fine, he says,” Aerith sighed, shaking her head in turn. Cloud blinked at her reaction. Did he say something wrong?

“Did I say something wrong?”

She giggled, shaking her head more furiously this time. She reached for her taller drink and pierced the plastic film lid with her fat straw. “You’re going to be a difficult guy to surprise and give gifts to, you know?” But she’d already given him one.

“But you’d already given me one.” It was there, sitting on top of his coat. He’d almost picked it up to wave it to her but instead, he took his own drink (Regular Iced Grapefruit Jasmine Tea with QQ Jelly and 50% sweetness level) and stuck his own straw in. Come to think of it, he was feeling a bit thirsty. Maybe he should have ordered the larger size like Aerith did, after all.

“Well, I can’t keep giving you the same ones every time, can I?” Aerith rolled her eyes, giggling still. “It’s hard not knowing what a guy’s interests are. Maybe I should ask Tifa what kind of gifts to give you. That way, you don’t end up with just...perfume or neck ties or whatever it is that’s on the Gifts for Him category.” Cloud understood that sentiment. Come to think of it, though…

“Hm?” Aerith chirped, leaning closer to Cloud. “You’ve got your brows all wrinkled up like that, again. What are you thinking?”

He shook his head after a breath. “Nothing,” he said. “It’s just that Tifa and I...now that I think of it, we don’t really give each other presents for Christmas or our birthdays.”

“Oh?”

Cloud nodded, looking up to those round green eyes. He took a quick sip from his bubble tea before he went on, “I guess we’ve never really gotten in the habit. We weren’t very close yet when we were just kids. Now that we’re closer...on our birthdays, we buy each other cakes. On Christmas, we’ll order the KFC Christmas Meal, get some Christmas Cake and a pack of beer...and that’s it. We’ve never looked for anything more than that.” Cloud shrugged. “Besides, it gets a little busy in the bar during Christmas Eve. And we’re together very often so we don’t have a lot of time to shop for each other.”

“What about when you were a kid?” Aerith pressed on. “Did your Mom get you anything? Your dad?”

“Sometimes, Mom got me something,” Cloud answered, nodding again. “A bike, some new shoes. But mostly, it’s cake and whatever else I wanted to eat.”

“And your dad?”

“My dad…” Cloud began...but ended his sentence in silence, with brows furrowed as he shook his head. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed this yet, but I don’t really talk about my dad because...he died when I was very young.”

“Oh.” Aerith moved as if to edge back, away from the man she’d offended by her carelessness. “I’m sorry, Cloud.”

Cloud shook his head. “It’s okay,” he said, again. “Being honest, I kinda feel bad about it, too. Up to now, I don’t really know much about him. I know he was American. Mom said he was working at that military base in Iwakuni before he retired and moved to Kiso Town where he met Mom. He died when I was too little to remember him.”

“But maybe he left you something to remember him by?” Aerith tried again. “Maybe like…a book? A piece of jewelry or photograph?”

Cloud shook his head. “Maybe he did. But I just never knew. All the things in the house had always been Momʼs. Before she died, she never told me anything special about them.”

They fell silent as their servings of raw meat, choregi salad, wakame soup and other sidings arrived. Cloud got to cooking just as the waiter left, racing Aerith to the pincers when sheʼd reached for them, too. 

“Hey,” she began softly after a little pause, playing with the tip of her plaits which sheʼd brought over her shoulder. “Remember what I said before, about where I was born?”

Cloud nodded, putting down his bowl of soup then giving one of the strips of meat a little poke to test it. “You said you were born in Hokkaido.” That had been during the first decent conversation theyʼd had, when she asked if he was a Tokyoite through and through. 

Aerith nodded, as well. She took her chopsticks and started poking at the kimchi. “I never told you about my own parents, though. My father was a local man, he was a researcher who used to work for the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.” That got his attention. 

Although he wondered if he should have taken more care about his looks when he looked up to her, halfway into flipping the thick strip of meat over. He must have appeared quite surprised, he thought, for her to offer him a little smile as she nodded, even when she didnʼt have to. Cloud made a conscious effort to school his features before he went on, glaring a little at their food which he finally turned over carefully. “Did uh…was it the tsunami that got him?” he asked in a level voice. 

“Oh, no, actually, he died much longer ago.”

When he glanced back up to Aerith, he could see she was trying not to giggle. Cloud sighed, shaking his head. “Guess you werenʼt too close.” Heʼd neglected to mind his tongue. 

“No, not really.” Aerith shook her head. “Although I remember him to be kind, and I know he really loved my mother. My _real_ mother.” They met again with their eyes. “My mom…I mean, Elmyra, she only adopted me.” Cloud never noticed…though now that he thought about it, he supposed it made sense. Aerith was still young and yet she already had streaks of gray along her hair. 

“What happened?” he asked before he could stop himself. But Hokkaido was a long way from here… 

“Itʼs a long story,” Aerith told him. But just when he thought she was avoiding the topic, she went on, saying, “Ever since I was born, it was my real mother who looked after me almost completely.” What she said, it was only to prepare him for what was to follow. 

“Her name was Ifalna,” she continued, picking up the pincers when Cloud put them down so she could start cutting up the meat. “My fatherʼs name was Gast. He spent most of his time at work so I became very close to my mother because she stayed with me at home.” She began giving the smaller pieces of meat a little stir before she surrendered the pincers to Cloud who placed a second strip of raw meat into an empty spot. “She was the first one who taught me how to read and write. And then after that, she would tell me about who she was, who we were. Where we came from, why we were here, what our predecessors did.”

“What do you mean?” Cloud asked. 

Aerith paused to drink her bubble tea and chew the tapioca balls. “My mother…sheʼs not exactly an ordinary Japanese…like your mom or my mom. Or Tifa. She came from a tribe.”

Cloud had heard of them, of course. From the news, mostly, though heʼd never paid them much interest. Until now. “Was she an Ainu?” he asked with some level of disbelief. He tried not to gape, that would be too rude. But heʼd never met anyone related to the Ainu Tribe all his life, much less a blood one. 

“Not really,” Aerith said, shaking her head. “I mean, my mother didnʼt really say. All she said was that we belonged to an ancient tribe. And I figured…well, when I was in preschool, I had at least two classmates who were descended from the Ainu People. I donʼt remember how I knew, but at that time, they never spoke about it and…I think they were even trying to hide it. Because of the discrimination, I mean.” She raised her personal plate when Cloud began to serve her generous pieces of meat. “But the way my mother spoke of our heritage…I felt like it was the most important thing in my life to never forget them.”

“Do you still remember them all?” Cloud asked as he scraped the rest of the cooked meat for himself. 

“A little,” Aerith shared, nodding. “But…theyʼre not exactly words, you know? More like feelings…thoughts. I thought Iʼd find out more about it when I get to this age but…then my father met a roadside accident. He died a few days later and while my mother was looking after him, she became very sick herself. Someone had suggested that we fly to Tokyo where the doctors might be better in treating her condition so thatʼs what we did. But everything that happened,” Aerith shrugged, “it took a toll on my mother. The last thing that she did was to give me to another woman waiting beside her before she passed out in the lobby of Haneda Airport. That woman is my mom now, Elmyra.”

Cloud would never have realized…that someone who could be as bubbly as her could have had such a chapter in her childhood. And to remember them all… 

Well, what was he supposed to say now? Hey, thatʼs okay. I donʼt remember how my father died. And then my mother died of poisoning in the car while I was out of town with my buddy, just because our heater at home was broken. Obviously not, what sort of a date was he? What was it she said to him just now… 

He was never very good at conversations. Tifa had often said this of him and he never once tried to excuse himself. Tifa would never have let him, anyway, but she had always extended herself to help him out, like taking control of the conversation or throwing in some tips when she could. Her advice had been to look out for cues, or to turn the question back to the other person if he couldnʼt come up with anything he could say. 

“Did she leave you anything?” Cloud ventured. Well, there must be a reason why sheʼd come up with that question in the first place. 

And there was. Cloud felt like a video game player that had guessed the answer right when Aerithʼs eyes lit up all of a sudden and she almost exclaimed, “Yes! Hold on, let me look for it.”

By which she meant let her bow her head while her hands reached up to the pink bow she always used to tie her hair together. Maybe he should get her a new one for Christmas. Was that a good idea? He flipped the second meat over before the first side got too toasted. 

“Here, see this?”

 _This_ was a pendant he never knew existed amidst the knot of her hair tie, and now that heʼd seen it turned up between her painted fingernails, he couldnʼt remember how he could have missed it. It was a piece of pearl attached to a ball chain by a silver cone made out of rings. Not so small that it was subtle but not too big that it was gaudy. 

“She gave it to me before we left home,” Aerith explained, a little smile on her face now, putting her arms back down. “And I like to think itʼs because…she knew something was going to happen to her. I donʼt know why but when I think about how she might have known that she was going to die soon…it gives me comfort. Because it meant she wasnʼt scared.”

“Is that a necklace?”

Aerith nodded. 

Cloud shrugged. “Why wonʼt you just wear it around your neck?”

“Mom thinks it might attract the wrong attention. Besides, I have other necklaces I like better but I like having this one around wherever I go.” Her hand ghosted to it again. “So I make sure I tie it up nicely around my bow so that I donʼt lose it.”

“And youʼve never once lost it?”

Aerith shook her head, smiling proudly before she hid it behind her straw. “Hey, the foodʼs getting cold!” The way she piped up, it almost seemed as if sheʼd forgotten where they were. “Cʼmon, cʼmon, letʼs eat!!”

They must have been hungrier than they realized, Cloud thought. As soon as theyʼd each shoved one lettuce-wrapped pork belly through their mouths, theyʼd forgotten they could chat with each other while they were eating. Cloud finished his bubble tea soon enough and had to order a can of Coke with their next round of Samgyeopsal. The bad thing about bringing your own ride, of course, was that you couldnʼt take some beer with your meat. 

Later on, though, Aerith would take one last sip from her large cup of bubble tea before she would smack the half-empty thing closer to Cloudʼs side of the table. “You donʼt want it, anymore?” he asked. Aerith shook her head, pouting as she chewed down the last of her tapioca balls. Cloud chuckled as he picked up the cup and drank through the straw. Well, what else was he there for?

—

Shortly before they left, Aerith went to the bathroom to freshen up while Cloud paid the bill and waited for her by the entrance. Together, they walked to the Seibu-Shinjuku Station where there was a cake shop nearby because Aerith had the idea of bringing home a souvenir for her mother.

“Say,” she said suddenly, eyes on their feet as they matched each otherʼs steps, moving their right foot at the same time and then their left, “What are you and Tifa doing this Christmas Eve?”

“Same as we always do,” Cloud answered, turning to her. “Take away KFC and some Christmas Cake.”

Aerith nodded. She started to rub her hands, then. “Would you like to join us at home?” She looked up to face him. “Itʼs always just me and Mom, anyway. Weʼll cook some food, and then you and Tifa can bring the cake.”

“Sounds great.” Tifa would love it, Cloud was sure. And if he knew her well, she would also make it an effort to bring something she made herself. Speaking of. 

With a quiet sigh, Cloud finally moved the coat in his arm to unfurl it and put it around Aerithʼs shoulders. That was the only reason heʼd brought it along, after all. Him personally, heʼd never been easily sensitive to the cold, not even when he was a kid, so he didnʼt find much need to stock up on outerwear. But the coat move was another trick that Tifa had taught him. She always looked after him. 

Now that Aerith was warm and cozy, she smiled happily at Cloud and bumped her head cutely on his shoulder. That made him smile, too. 

In the bakeshop, he carried it in his arm again while Aerith put together a box of pastries for her mother from the glass display at the front and then looked around among its gift items for something she would give Tifa. Aerith was always so thoughtful, Cloud mused, as he perused the pretty pastries himself, and so sweet about her actions, too. Was it any wonder that her mother was so protective of her? He would be, too. He’d really never met anyone like her…

When he came up after her in the cashier to ask for two slices of strawberry shortcake for take out, the way Aerith seemed to brighten up like a Christmas Tree was enough to make him feel like he’d been drinking in front of a fireplace—heady and warm to the cheeks. “For you and Tifa?” she asked with thinly veiled excitement. That was one other thing he loved about Aerith—she was never jealous of his relationship with his close friend. 

Cloud didn’t know how he managed to keep himself from smiling when he nodded. She beamed at him. “That’s great! Tifa would love that.” She swayed herself into bumping his arm with her elbow just after he’d paid for his purchase. “Hey, you’re being very thoughtful tonight, aren’t you?” Was it okay to say that she’d inspired it in him and given him the idea? “Did you get the idea from me?” Well okay, whatever.

He bowed slightly as he received his own bag of his items before he turned to Aerith. “Would you like it if I said yeah?” Aerith nodded. “Yeah, you did.” She giggled, then.

They were back out in the cold and the night soon enough, Aerith handing her box over to Cloud so she could take his coat and put it on, again, for the short walk to the train station. It was a quiet evening, save for what sounded like a thin grinding of wheels. “Hey, would you like to stay over a bit for tea?” she asked suddenly, turning to meet him at the bottom of the steps while he climbed down. Well, this was kind of what Tifa was telling him earlier. Suddenly, he remembered that thing he had in one of his pockets. “I mean, unless you have some early morning deliveries—”

“Aerith, watch out!”

He was next to her in an instant, taking her by the side of her waist and pulling her while he switched their places, just in time to feel the bump of a racing bicycle rider on his back. There was some form of an apology that trailed after the rushing man but he had disappeared along the empty road as soon as Cloud had seen him before heʼd swooped towards Aerith. He sighed, frowning at the absent stranger before he looked to the round-eyed Aerith looking back up to him from the same suspect. “You okay?”

Aerith nodded, looking a little surprised by the turn of events. “Are you?” she asked back and he nodded, too. “Okay,” she said, smiling for it. “Thanks for looking after me, Cloud.”

With a little smirk, he shrugged. It was nothing.

“We should probably get going now.”

Oh right, he was still holding her to him.

He stumbled back, hiding his face as he blushed and scratched his head. Aerith giggled, clearly unaffected by her almost accident. “C’mon, Bodyguard!” she teased him. “Before another bike runs you over.” Some gratitude that was.

But he’d been touched by her concern when she’d asked about him again on their way to the Shinjuku-nishiguchi Station, even asking him to sit down on the platform bench when they’d missed the train and had to wait for the next one to come. She was looking after him herself.

Twenty minutes later, they were leaving the station near her house. Soon enough, they were coming up to her door, Aerith announcing their presence even before she opened it, wrapped snug in Cloud’s coat. Elmyra was there to meet them, of course, and Cloud swore he could see the relief in her face when their eyes met.

“Sorry for disturbing you again,” he muttered, bowing to her.

“Please come in and make yourself home,” Elmyra responded with a bit more cheer than he remembered earlier, stepping aside while Aerith tucked her boots into their shoe cabinet and skipped up to their main floor in her socks. She turned in time to take Cloud’s baggage from his hands so he could take off his own boots in the genkan. “Let me make you some tea.”

“Sounds perfect!” Aerith announced, shuffling over to their dining table where her scarf still waited for her, folded properly atop it. She reached up to her bow then, slipping a finger to itch her scalp. “We brought home some pastries—” That was all she could say before she stood frozen all of a sudden, a sharp gasp through her wide open mouth. Both of her hands had flown up to her bow then while she searched her feet wildly, stumbling back and whirling as she went. That was how Cloud knew what was wrong.

“Aerith—” he called to her. 

“My pendant!” Aerith cried, turning to both him and his mother who stopped midway to approaching her. “My mother’s pendant. It’s gone!”

“Did you remove it while you were out?” her mother asked, closing the distance between her and her daughter so she could look at the problem herself. As for Cloud, he zipped up his boot and hurried back out the door, searching for the pearl on the asphalt. 

“I didn’t!” Aerith sounded half-hysterical. Cloud thought back to the last time he saw it. “I only—” Another gasp, just as he marched in.

“It’s not outside,” Cloud reported right as Aerith came down to meet him in the genkan. “But I could check—”

“—the Korean restaurant!?” Aerith interrupted, still wild-eyed. “I remember: I fixed my bow in the restroom!”

And that was the last place he’d seen it. Cloud nodded. “I was thinking of that place, too.”

“I’ll go with you!”

“Oh Aerith, must you?” Elmyra had hurried after her, short of jumping down the genkan with her. “It will probably be closed by the time you get there, anyway.”

“Mom, I’ll be fine!” Aerith persisted, pulling out her boots, again. “I’ll be with Cloud.”

That was when Elmyra whipped up to find Cloud, and the way she looked at him, while Aerith was concentrated on lacing up her shoes, he could tell how much she wanted Aerith to stay that she was asking him to help her out. He would be betraying Aerith by agreeing, that was for sure. Cloud would never think of doing that and yet the thought of denying Elmyra, gray-haired, her worries creased onto her features, this one favor…

He had to think fast.

His hand came up with his phone then as he searched for the Korean restaurant to confirm its operating hours. “Actually, it’s still open,” he shared, trying to buy some time for his bluff. “It says here it’s up ‘til 11.” Elmyra sighed, her head drooping in surrender.

“Isn’t that good?” Aerith was up now, staring brightly at him. “Let’s go!”

“Aerith,” Cloud spoke slowly, “I’m not sure they’ll let us search the floor or the bathroom while there are people in it. We might be a nuisance.”

“He’s right, Aerith.” As soon as Elmyra understood what Cloud was getting at, she joined in, putting her hands on her daughter’s shoulders so she would turn to look at her. “They might not be willing to help you if that’s the case.”

“But Mom!”

“It opens at 11, too,” Cloud went on, regaining Aerith’s rapt attention. “I think that gives us enough time to ask and look tomorrow morning. Besides,” he quickly attached when Aerith’s shoulders sagged and she started to frown, keeping his voice calm, “I’m sure if someone found it tonight, they’ll be sure to hand it to the staff. People aren’t normally,” dicks, “rude, especially with something so precious. We can ask the restaurant tomorrow.” Is that working?

“He has a point, Aerith,” Elmyra tried again, even offering her daughter a smile. “I’m sure it wouldn’t go missing. In the meantime,” she spoke hurriedly, “we can give them a call and ask. They’ll be happy to help us.”

Cloud nodded and tossed a hand to Elmyra. “She has a point,” he echoed. Oops, did that look like he and Elmyra were ganging up on Aerith? It was hard, though. He couldn’t take that look of disappointment on her face, not when it was so used to smiling and laughing, but he had to keep a straight look if he meant for this to work. Besides, he had a plan of his own.

“Come along,” Elmyra said, keeping her hands on Aerith’s sleeves, comforting her with wide strokes. “Let’s get that number. Cloud,” she looked up to him and bowed, then. “Please excuse us for troubling you.”

“No,” Cloud bowed in turn, “it’s no trouble at all.”

Before he left, they agreed he would fetch her at 9 in the morning. Armed with his coat, Tifaʼs cake and gift and his own, he bowed again to both women before the door closed. 

And then he was marching to the corner parking lot where he left his bike, short of jogging which he would have if he wasnʼt carrying some delicate food with him. He moved urgently as soon as he was next to it, opening the sealed luggage at the back which he used for his deliveries to put in Aerithʼs gifts and his desserts and his rolled up coat, squeezed in at the side. 

As soon as heʼd locked up, he was running—back to the train station. If he meant to trace Aerithʼs missing pendant, after all, he had to do it as closely to the circumstances of their losing it as possible. And that would mean commuting the whole way through.

—

Of course, it was only after Cloud had arrived at the scene of the crime that he understood the enormity of the task he took upon himself.

The Korean barbecue place was, as he had explained, about as busy as it could get, putting him completely ill-at-ease about the space he was occupying when he’d bothered one of the waitstaff to ask them about the pendant. None of them gave him more than a distinct look of confusion, of course. It would be too much of a miracle to expect otherwise. Someone had offered to search the bathroom but come back with nothing to report. Cloud glanced at the table he and Aerith once occupied but that was all he could do about it. It was full of young men and women in their high school uniforms now, laughing as their first round of Samgyeopsal was served.

Cloud’s only hope then was that they would find the errant pearl by some well-meaning customer or the sweep of their mops. The waitstaff bowed, eager to be counted on. Cloud bowed back and left, now feeling a little more uncertain about his next course of action but the night evening wasn’t over yet. Something could still turn up.

When he made for the pastry shop, he kept his eyes on his feet, stopping every so often to look around, peer into the shadows make sure he didn’t miss anything in his haste or carelessness. Now that he thought about it, he realized the pastry shop was where he’d pulled Aerith away from an accident. That could have jostled her pendant out of its chain, he thought.

His phone beeped just as he was about to turn towards it, which was still blessedly open and empty for his investigation. _I remembered something!_ It was Aerith who texted. _The bicycle rider in front of the bakeshop!_

 _I thought about that, too,_ was his unhelpful reply. He wasn’t usually in the habit of replying but the woman was obviously distraught right now for losing her mother’s only memento. Besides, he still felt guilty for not telling her he was looking around for it but if he did, there was no way he could do this without her insisting to come along which was exactly what her mother didn’t want.

The bakeshop, for all its promise, yielded nothing, as well. Cloud was sure he was feeling the weight of dread sinking down his gullet now. For whatever it was worth, the woman behind the counter was more than happy to help, even bringing out the broom to sweep the place up in case the pearl turned up from under the shelves or heavy furniture. Cloud figured it gave her something to do an hour before she closed, at the very least. As for him, well…

Well, he didn’t know. There was nothing left for him to do in that warm, toasty place with the nice, classic golden lights and pretty breads so it was back out the late evening for him. He stuffed his hands in his pockets, wondered what to do as he exhaled and gazed out the dark, empty road. The quiet city certainly wasnʼt sharing him its secrets. There was still the walk to the Shinjuku-nishiguchi Station and the train ride besides but he was already feeling despondent about his prospects.

Though it wasn’t like he had much else to do. He had to go home; he left his bike near Aerith’s house and he couldn’t go home without it. Cloud kept his eyes on his feet as he started on his path but his steps were heavy and sluggish compared to the energy he had earlier. Anything could happen, of course.

He stopped by a vendo machine to buy a drink. Thought briefly about digging in the rubbish bin with the empty cans and bottles but decided it was ridiculous for anyone to just pick up and toss in a precious mineral they just so happened to step on along the sidewalk. And the thought of putting his hand in the muck of mixed fluids next to it was just…no. 

So he stepped back, bowed slightly to a pair of salarymen around his age who were waiting for their turn then entered the train station, still searching. He moved with a pensive motion, interrupted only when a young man had bumped into him and offered a hasty apology.

Should he be surprised it was one of the salarymen from earlier? But of course, what else would they be doing out there, and not in an izakaya or a karaoke bar or whatever, except to take the train home themselves? Both of them hardly spared him a bow before they hurried past the barrier. They were trying to catch the train.

Oh shit, he should do that, too.

He ended up coming to stand beside them just as the train came in and its doors opened. He sat next to it while they chose a seat across, to his diagonal right, heaving soft sighs of relief as they slumped. They were home free now. Him, though…

God, what was he going to tell Aerith? He couldn’t bare that look on her face, again, especially not when he’d tried very hard to wipe it. But what else could he have done? Stayed longer? Asked more? What difference would that do? Maybe if Tifa had been with him, she might have done something else that could turn things around. But she wasn’t, and he should really stop counting on Tifa to fix things for him, no matter that she insisted. It wasnʼt fair for her. He was more glad now, though, that Aerith hadn’t insisted to join him. 

What would she have done? Pray? To the guy in the cross?

 _Hey,_ he sighed, closing his eyes briefly while he rested his head against the wall. _Whoever’s out there, Aerith needs your help. She wants her pendant back._ So they should just give it back to her.

He made it to his stop. Still had no idea what to tell Aerith. Supposedly he had until 9 the next morning to figure it out but how cruel is it to tell her to give up now when she was just about to get started? If he didn’t tell her, though, that would be just as cruel, right?

This was what was going on in his head as he stepped out of the train and headed up to the next level. The salarymen were there, too, filling the emptiness with lively conversation.

“Ahh, shoot!” one of them cried. Cloud tried to pretend he hadn’t jumped in surprise. “I knew we’d forgotten something.”

“Huh? Oh, the police!” the other one exclaimed in turn. Cloud sighed heavily, shaking his head and marching faster out the hallway. He really didn’t need to hear this kind of chatter. It wasnʼt helping him, he wasnʼt in the mood for it, and ultimately, he couldn’t care less for such rude behavior. Really, they should just keep it between themselves. “Well, that’s okay,” the second one went on, “we could just drop it tomorrow.”

“We can’t, we’ll be at the Ikebukuro Office tomorrow!” the first one replied almost hotly. “Whoever it is who lost it would surely be going back to that area tomorrow where it went missing.” Cloud stopped all of a sudden, heart skipping a beat. “Man, I hope this isn’t something really important.”

He was turning before he could catch himself, hurrying back to the noisy salarymen who froze to meet him with round blinking eyes just as he said, “Excuse me!” and bowed. They bowed back. “I couldn’t help but overhear you but…” Cloud wanted to bite his own tongue, he was probably going to make a fool of himself but goddamn, he’d already come this far to stop now just because they were strangers and this whole thing was rude! “That thing you have, does it happen to be a pearl pendant?”

The way they gaped and stared at each other was done with such stunning synchronicity, it almost made him feel as if the whole thing was scripted. “Whoah, it’s a Christmas miracle,” the second one observed while the first one opened his briefcase and slipped his hand in. Cloud could hardly believe what he was seeing.

“Is it this one?” the salaryman asked, holding out a white stone on his palm. And lo and behold, there it was, just as Cloud remembered it—not too small, not too gaudy, attached to a silver cone made from rings. 

He took it in his hand to look at it more closely as the first man went on to explain, “We found it near the last station. We were supposed to leave it with the police before we went home but we had such a long night in the office, we forgot! Well, I’m glad we forgot.” Cloud was glad they forgot, too. And after those poor thoughts he had of them just now…

Cloud exhaled deeply as he threw himself forward for another good bow. “Thank you,” he gasped, “I’ve been looking all over for this.”

“Hey, that belongs to your girlfriend, doesn’t it?” the second man, who truly must be a man of good observations, noted, crossing his arms with a cheerful smirk on his face. “And they say chivalry is dead. I bet that’s why she agreed to be your girlfriend, huh?” For whatever it was worth, he really did like to talk.

But he saved his life. And even an unsociable man like Cloud knew how to be grateful. “That’s the point I’m trying to make,” he replied, nodding to him.

—

He went flying out the train station after and ran the rest of the way to Aerith’s door. Not an easy thing to do in such brisk weather.

By the time he was standing in front of the house, he was chasing his breath. Elmyra received him with a surprised look but he bowed deeply again before he explained himself. He sputtered, “Sorry to disturb you, but is Aerith still up?” And then he showed the stunned Elmyra what was in his hand just as someone came rushing down the stairwell. “I found her—”

“Cloud!!”

Aerith was in his arms before he knew what had happened. He stepped back to brace himself, carrying both their weights in his embrace, closing his fingers quickly around the pendant before he lost it again. Sheʼd undone her hair. Those curls felt soft under his hands. 

As for Aerith, when Cloud had found their balance, she kept her arms around his neck, her face hidden over his shoulder as she cried, “You found it! You found my mother’s pearl!”

“You waited up for me?” Of course she would. When had Aerith ever given up? 

She nodded. “I had a feeling you were going to try and find it. I just needed to have faith in you.” Whoever it was up there, they really did love Aerith.

When they parted, that was when Cloud finally handed her their hard-fought pearl, relieved to still see it in his palm. She took it from him and held it to her heart.

“Thank you, really,” she said, smiling brightly enough to make him forget how sadly she looked when he last left her. “I’m going to take extra care of it now.”

“You better.” Cloud nodded. “We might not be so lucky in the future.”

“You must be so tired and cold,” Elmyra stepped in. “Shall I make you some tea?” Earlier, when he’d come to pick up Aerith, he would never have expected to hear those words come out from the guarded woman’s own lips.

But now, he could see that she was smiling warmly at him, the way her eyes crinkled as they looked softly at him. Maybe the noisy guy was right, it _was_ a Christmas miracle. Maybe this whole thing was worth it just for this one moment of acceptance.

“I really need to get going,” Cloud excused himself, shaking his head. “It’s gotten very late.”

“Of course.” Elmyra dipped slightly. “Thank you for all the trouble you took for my daughter.”

He shook his head again and bowed again. “It’s no trouble at all.” And he meant every word of it. He looked down to Aerith who looked back to him. There really was no end to the relief that filled him at the sight of her smile…

—

Aerith promised to call him in the morning where they would proceed to talk about what had happened. By the time Cloud had made it back home, it was already past 11.

The bar was closed by now. Tifa had just finished cleaning up and putting up all the chairs when Cloud dropped in through the back door and announced himself by beckoning to her quietly and then waving the bag of cakes he’d bought earlier. The sparkle in her eyes and breadth of her smile when she gasped at his surprise gifts was just another cherry to top this already exciting evening.

He told her all about it over tea and desserts atop her bar counter. Cloud had never been skilled with conversations, much less storytelling, but Tifa listened with rapt attention and was completely absorbed by it. His very own captive audience. Was it any wonder that he liked being her friend? She looked quite at home where she sat, leaning over the bar, her chin on one hand. Aerith’s Christmas gift to her laid just next to her elbow; sheʼd opened it up the moment Cloud had handed it to her. He and his friend really were too alike sometimes.

They stayed up talking until 2 in the morning; by the end of it, he and Tifa had gone through several dishes sheʼd like to bring to their first Christmas reunion with friends and had only adjourned because she said that she needed to sleep on it. And Cloud really felt kind of beat from the long day (and still had to be up early for Aerithʼs phone call the next morning). 

But back in his bedroom, in his work desk, Cloud finally opened his own gift to reveal what he had been expecting all this time: a collapsible cup complete with a straw. What was a surprise, though, was that it came in Aerith’s color—pink.

There must have been a mix-up, he thought. But there was an Instax picture that came with it that told him otherwise, with Aerith pressing a blue cup to one of her cheeks and then raising a peace sign in the other. 

_This way, we’ll have something of each other!_ read her message at the back. Well, this was just like her.

Cloud looked up from the picture to those ones he’d stuck to the wall just over his desk—he’d taken many of them since he’d gotten a license to drive and gone on road trips on his own. There were pictures of sunrises, sunsets, roadside farms, random streets, the beach and even the mountains of his home. And scattered in the midst of them, rare selfies of him with Tifa, some other friends.

He would put Aerith’s picture with this collection of fond memories. He realized, then, too, that he finally knew what he would give her this Christmas—a picture of himself with the pink cup (maybe he would ask Tifa to take it when she isnʼt so busy) and a better chain to attach her pendant to. That way, he thought, she, too, would have something to remember him by. And if she ever lost the one, well, she’ll still have the other.

And in any case, she’ll still have him. He’d already proven that much, after all.


End file.
